This Sunday we enter the peak tourism season in a year that has seen the industry almost bottom out, with no tangible hope of a major recovery in the months ahead, before the monsoon brings down the curtains on the season. Goa comes to this all-important week of the tourism season with the staggering knowledge that the industry has already suffered a loss of around Rs 2062 crore, which by the end of the season could rise to Rs 7239 crore, and that potential job loss in tourism is between 35 per cent and 58 per cent. These statistics, culled from a report prepared for the government, are not good news for the industry, but this is the reality of an industry that has been one of the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdowns and restrictions.
The pandemic did bring about an abrupt disruption in the industry, begining with to the lockdown. As people holidaying in Goa hurried back to the hometowns and stayed there as even after the lockdown was lifted, restrictions on movement continued, and the complete absence of tourists led to the massive loss of earnings. While other businesses returned to a semblance of normalcy within weeks, the tourism industry was the last to emerge, and this is one sector that cannot get back on its feet by itself, but depends entirely on the arrival of tourists. It earns if the tourists arrive, it loses if they don’t, and the latter is what occurred.
The State does claim that with protocols for incoming tourists developed, circulated and implemented, Goa was able to do away with mandatory testing and quarantine, and became the first State to apply and receive ‘Safe Travels Stamp’ from the World Travel & Tourism Council, which boosted confidence among the travellers. What has saved Goa Tourism till now, and stopped it from collapsing totally, are the domestic tourists that braving the COVID-19 pandemic have decided that Goa is a safe place for a holiday. So far they have not been wrong, as the number of fresh COVID-19 cases in Goa has not shown an increase, but hovers at around 100 a day. While they trickled into the State, after the borders were opened, they are now arriving in much bigger numbers.
But if the Goa government has been able to take decisions to revive the industry based on the statistics from the survey, then we need to know what these decisions are. This is important, as the survey claims that the continuing travel restrictions, limited purchase power at a time of the harsh economic crisis leading to cutting down on discretionary spending, fear of the resurgence of the pandemic are factors that will continue to negatively affect travel patterns. This is to be expected, what is to be revealed is what is being done to mitigate the effects. Goa cannot merely rely on the domestic tourist to keep coming, it has to give them some reason to come.
One has to look at how other tourism destinations across the world are surviving. Hawaii for instance is offering free air tickets to tourists who are willing to spend a month on the islands , working out of their hotel rooms. Closer home, Rajathan is eyeing domestic tourists who are willing to combine work and vacation, and is also developing newer tourist experiences. Goa needs to look for innovation in tourism to keep itself competitive with the other States. For the next few months all State are going to depend largely on domestic tourists, and the State that offers the best deal will score over the others. This is the opportunity that Goa has to grab, before the initative is wrested by another.